Anyway, so there are the men and I don’t ever remember where they came from. There are also green parrots in the compound just passing and sometimes I see a swallow or two and I don’t know where they come from or where they go and that’s really why the men are birds. Birds, maybe, that fell down here and decided to stay. Well, Miss Margaret says the swallows come from Africa and are just visiting for a short rest. They will return in the autumn. I am sad they are so restless and that they won’t stay here, here with me, I mean. I don’t believe what Miss Margaret says. I just nod and smile at her when she tells me things and tells me off.
The men are sitting in the bushes. Men from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Yemen and Sudan. And Egypt too, I’m sure. Just here and there you can sense them murmuring, muttering now and again into their mobile phones. They squat in the sand or else on bits of broken chair obscured like dusty birds. Some will rise in their dirty white cotton vests and wander off to the dirty white marble mosque at the end of Al Johari Street. Just occasionally they do that as if to stretch their legs. But others don't. They just like to hide even from God. But Baba told me you can’t ever hide from Allah. Not even your deepest secret can he not see; however hard you shut your eyes or however dark the room, Allah knows everything. I think the men are naughty but I’d be sad if Baba made them go away.
Anyway, so there are the men and I don’t ever remember where they came from. There are also green parrots in the compound just passing and sometimes I see a swallow or two and I don’t know where they come from or where they go and that’s really why the men are birds. Birds, maybe, that fell down here and decided to stay. Well, Miss Margaret says the swallows come from Africa and are just visiting for a short rest. They will return in the autumn. I am sad they are so restless and that they won’t stay here, here with me, I mean. I don’t believe what Miss Margaret says. I just nod and smile at her when she tells me things and tells me off. Comments are closed.
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